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[MereMonkey]

I could see myself getting lost in this game for hours, can't wait to see more!!

[SomberPixel]

I could see myself getting lost in this game for hours, can't wait to see more!!

That is great! And inspiring for us Mere_Monkey :D. We will work hard to make it happen! We are posting updates for Lost Hope every week so stay in tune.

Good work, I will keep my eyes on this project.

Just a thing, I think your light effects looks a bit strange with the Pixel Art Style.
Maybe it's because there is a High contrast.
The lighting system of Binding of Isaac Rebirth  might be a good reference.


Good luck for your project

Hello chrisDeneos! Thanks for the feedback about the lighting. Binding of Isaac Rebirth is a great reference!
Lighting is very important for this experience so we want to make it right, we will post more images as we develop the game so you can see the evolution of Lost Hope.
Do you think that with less contrast it would look better?
We will discuss it this week to see what fits better for the game.

[Miziziziz]

I really like the visuals of the characters (especially the animations)!
The design sounds really interesting, what with being able to kill npcs, etc. Are you going for something like Pathologic?

[SomberPixel]

I really like the visuals of the characters (especially the animations)!
The design sounds really interesting, what with being able to kill npcs, etc. Are you going for something like Pathologic?

Hello Miziziziz! We are glad you like the visuals and the animations! (:
About being able to kill npcs, we want people to feel each death significant. We plan to create npcs with great personalities in order to achieve that and there will be consequences for killing anyone.
Pathotolic is a great reference since it also lets the player kill other npcs , even though we don't know the magnitude of the consequences in that game. 
We keep in mind that there is a main story but the way it develops may change depending on your decisions.

[SomberPixel]

Update 4: Picking up items!

In Lost Hope, you will come across all kind of items, explore different places such as abandoned houses in search of useful items!

Depending on the position of the item, a different animation is played. This is because we didn't want the items to magically disappear from the room, but instead give the impression that the player is actually picking it up from a position.

Of course there is a lot to do, all in all , details. Some items may be too tiny so we are thinking on showing a little icon if you are close to an item.
Also we need to put some kind of information on screen about the item you have just picked up.

Work in progress!

There is still a lot to do here!

[SomberPixel]

Update 5: New scenarios, camera , details and a sick programmer!

This days have been hard for me(programmer!),I fell ill during the week and obviously with fever my logic was not the most reliable to do a lot of code for Lost Hope.

Luckily, I am now feeling better and continue to code! And Arturo is making a lot of pixel art for the game!

This update shows a simple camera that follows the player as he walks through a house. More advanced camera functions are also being programmed such as the ones we will use for triggered events and effects.

When the player enters another room, there is a fade-in effect, then the next room loads and a fade-out effect is called and you can continue exploring.

Check it!

[TheWing]

Loving the setting, interested to see where this will lead! It seems to be packed with quite some humour too, keep that up !

[SomberPixel]

Loving the setting, interested to see where this will lead! It seems to be packed with quite some humour too, keep that up !

Thanks a lot! We want to transmit a lot of feelings with this game so we are working hard in the script!

[SomberPixel]

Update 6: Run,run,run!

Running away from trouble is something most of people do! It may seem coward sometimes but … if a mutant wants to kill you it may be a good idea to run. Unless you have the proper equipment or tactics to face it.

You can see the animation in the gif. We are thinking on controlling how much you can run through a stamina system. Your stamina would be reduced with each significant action you make such as running, perform multiple physical attacks and others.

Other things have been programmed , such as the save system and more things that we will show in upcoming news!

Sometimes,it is a good idea to run!

[GroZZleR]

Looks mouthwatering mate.  Keep it up.

[SomberPixel]

Looks mouthwatering mate.  Keep it up.

Thanks GroZZler!! We are glad to hear that ! We will post more images and gifs to keep you informed!

[SomberPixel]

**Working on designs**

We are currently designing a lot of things about Lost Hope. Each npc will have a unique personality and story.
We want to make of Lost Hope a memorable experience, and that will be possible by having significant characters that you get to care about.

Stay tuned for major updates!

Left : Main character . Right: Female npc

[SomberPixel]

Update 7: Combat Animations!

There is a lot of action involved in Lost Hope. With lots of mutants lurking around the city you cannot have some static animations for such a rigorous combat. That is why, in order to achieve a fluid combat system, we are investing a lot of time making fluid animations.
Combat is very important so we want to make it fun and challenging, it is still being programmed and not all the animations are completed but we want to show you a first look at what will be the combat system for Lost Hope.

Aim and shoot!
*Work in progress*
Mutant catastrophe means you have to search and equip weapons that may help you to survive.
The basic ranged weapon is a gun.

If you are using keyboard and mouse input for the game, you can aim while pressing the right mouse button. You can control the angle with the mouse, moving the mouse up or down or to the sides will control the angle so keep that in mind when trying to kill mutants!

Bat attack, again!

Just a reminder of what the melee combat will be about, there will be other kind of weapons. In this case we show the bat attack which is pretty useful in case you want to save some ammo.

Right now the main character is just attacking the air, but that is because the combat system is still being programmed. We will soon show how this attack can be a powerful ally when fighting mutants.

Evade... you will need it!

An important aspect of the game is to evade in order to survive. If a mighty attack is about to hit you, you can evade it while maintaining your direction and then strike back with a melee attack. You can have a first look at the evade animation.

That is not all

We have just showed what we have done so far for the combat system, but there are still many things we need to do, such as enemy behaviors and more actions of the player that will make of the combat a fun and challenging experience.
As always, feel free to comment and give us some feedback! Remember this is work in progress and may change for the better.

More aspects of the game will also be revealed soon

[Fenrir]

Nice, you're doing some good job here!
Is there any platforming aspect in the game? Or all scenes are horizontal planes?

[SomberPixel]

Nice, you're doing some good job here!
Is there any platforming aspect in the game? Or all scenes are horizontal planes?

Thanks Fenrir!Most of the scenes are horizontal planes where you will be able to walk around, run, attack evade and other dynamic actions.But there will be some triggered actions and obstacles that will avoid the game to look plane!

[Join Indies]

What kind of melee weapons will be in this?  I can think of some standard ones to have-- crowbars, pipes etc.

But it'd be cool if you had some humorous ones. Say like a frying pan to pay homage to Battle Royale. Or household appliances, like toasters.

Just a thought.

[Archendrus]

Nice, you're doing some good job here!
Is there any platforming aspect in the game? Or all scenes are horizontal planes?

Thanks Fenrir!Most of the scenes are horizontal planes where you will be able to walk around, run, attack evade and other dynamic actions.But there will be some triggered actions and obstacles that will avoid the game to look plane!

When I came across this awhile back, it actually made me question whether I really need platforming at all in a game I've been designing. I think platforming is sometimes really weird when a game's setting is realistic.  This style is more slow-paced and methodical, but can also have action. Thanks for getting my wheels turning =)  The game is looking really cool so far! 

[SomberPixel]

What kind of melee weapons will be in this?  I can think of some standard ones to have-- crowbars, pipes etc.

But it'd be cool if you had some humorous ones. Say like a frying pan to pay homage to Battle Royale. Or household appliances, like toasters.

Just a thought.

Sorry for the super late response! There will be different melee weapons such as pipes , bats and others we are still considering. A frying pan would be a great option and we will keep it in mind. I loved Battle Royale so we will discuss it. You are supossed to survive with anything you find useful in the game right ? (:

Nice, you're doing some good job here!
Is there any platforming aspect in the game? Or all scenes are horizontal planes?

Thanks Fenrir!Most of the scenes are horizontal planes where you will be able to walk around, run, attack evade and other dynamic actions.But there will be some triggered actions and obstacles that will avoid the game to look plane!

When I came across this awhile back, it actually made me question whether I really need platforming at all in a game I've been designing. I think platforming is sometimes really weird when a game's setting is realistic.  This style is more slow-paced and methodical, but can also have action. Thanks for getting my wheels turning =)  The game is looking really cool so far! 

Wow! Do you have a page so we can see how your game is doing? It is great Lost Hope helped you realize what you really wanted for your game's gameplay. Good luck with your videogame!
Yes,we also talked about the matter and in the end we went for a "realistic" gameplay, this also will help us on the combat system where platforming elements would have turned it weird. And thanks! We are putting all our efforts into this

[SomberPixel]

**Working on designs 2**

We are currently designing a lot of things about Lost Hope. Each npc will have a unique personality and story.

Stay tuned for major updates!

Left : The devourer  .  Right: Main character

Stay tuned for major updates! -> https://twitter.com/SomberPixel

[SomberPixel]

Update 8: We are back!

Somber Pixel is back! And with it, Lost Hope development will be a lot better. We made some changes in our management and control process and now have much more time to develop Lost Hope than before. The team is still formed by both Arturo and I (Adolfo) , but now we have managed to find a incredibly suitable workflow for Lost Hope.

As you may already know, Lost Hope is a survival-horror game with both exploration and action involved to keep things fresh. You will take the role of a man who is living in a city surrounded by terrible mutants due to a catastrophe and you will be able to freely(but at your own risk) explore the city in search for survivors, items and information.Story is an important part of this game and we are giving the players the option to decide their actions and change how the story develops.Also, each NPC will have a unique personality and you will be able to talk to them ,do some favors for them(or not), attack them and more. In other words, we are aiming for a rich world were you really feel the need of survival and interaction with the characters.

We were inspired by other games in the genre such as Silent Hill, Lone Survivor, Resident evil(1,2 and 3) and other games we consider scary and fun.

Our last update was a while ago but do not think we were lazy this last months! Most of our advances have been code and game-design-related and not much about visual or gameplay implementation( which is what we usually write articles about). A lot of things have been coded, such as our own custom input manager, an enhanced event system, data-related things, micro-systems that allow flexible code and more. Technical aspects will not be covered in this article though!

Main character's enhanced movement


As you may have read in other articles, in Lost Hope we put a lot of attention in details. We want this experience to be unique and immersive so details are as important as the main mechanics. Look at the before and now animations of the main character's basic movements.

Walk direction change

Before

Now

Run stop

Before

Now

Run direction change

Before

Now

Even though it is not a massive difference, we want this to be a detailed experience.

Thanks for your time, both of us are pretty passionate about this game and we will work harder everyday in order to release a significant experience for the players.

We plan to keep you updated much more often now and you can always find us on twitter or the links we have provided. Stay tuned for more updates(There will be a lot more of these!).